Galactic Swirl

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December 14, 2011

Clouds of hot gas swirl around a massive galaxy in this combination optical and X-ray image of Abell 2052, a cluster of galaxies about 480 million light-years from Earth. The swirl was created as a smaller cluster passed through this large one, pulling gas first outward and then inward, setting up a "sloshing" motion. [NASA/CXC/BU/E.Blanton/ESO/VLT]